


Ladder Upon the Wall

by blueberryfortunes (blueberryfxrtunes)



Series: The Universe Spat Us Out [1]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Awkwardness, Claire was def a hufflepuff, Clan Politics, Dubious Consent, F/M, Fix-It, Fix-It of Sorts, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gen, It Gets Worse Before It Gets Better, Mild Gore, Multi, Not Konoha, Original Character(s), Other, POV Third Person, People of power abusing said power, Politics, Protectiveness, Rating May Change, SI in Suna, Safe Sane and Consensual, Sane Gaara, Self-Insert, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Slow To Update, Triggers, Worldbuilding, act of kindess, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-17
Updated: 2020-07-06
Packaged: 2020-10-20 17:30:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,016
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20679188
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blueberryfxrtunes/pseuds/blueberryfortunes
Summary: There's no use climbing the ladder if you're on completely the wrong wall.___Claire Murphy promised herself she wasn't going to touch Engineering/Mechanics with a ten-foot pole after a rather unfortunate incident pushed her into a universe that held a different night sky than her usual one. Yet, as she gazes at the innocent kid in front of her, her walls melt.Guess, all it takes is a tiny red-head child in creating a monopolized industry.___Or, Self-insert falls in Naruto and wants nothing to do with the plot. Her plans revolve around living past her thirty-first birthday and having a happy, content life. But all it takes is a misunderstood kid and one act of kindness which leads to the biggest plot divergence in the world.





	1. Prologue

To anyone reading this, you’re going to be absolutely gobsmacked at some stupid (yet important) decisions I have taken that lead to the <strike>best</strike> <strike>worst</strike> interesting path I seem to be on right now.

Piece of advice, if you graduate from university and get a job offer by the government, don’t take it. I wonder if that moment was the moment my fate was determined; my freshly graduated self, getting a card from a dude who looked like an MI6 agent. He wore sunglasses indoors, at night! The bells that rang at the back of my drunk mind should’ve tipped me off.

I knew I should’ve listened to my paranoia about government bodied officials and not trusting them. But sue me! I was flooded with euphoria (and high on the odd, bubbly champagne which was being served).

If only I had saved myself from that decision, I wouldn’t be lost. I could have been home, with a family. Or in bed.

Or at least, I could look up into the night sky.

I would never have to think that there would be a day in my life in which I wouldn’t recognize the pattern of the stars. Where I would realize I was no longer in the comfort of my own universe.

I just hope I didn’t end up in a universe where aliens or robots ruled the planet.


	2. Chapter 2

Claire stretched out, her joints cracking as they finally shift position after hours of being in the same place. Her back arched against the red beanbag she had been leaning against. The laptop in her lap slipped to the side. Blinking harshly, Claire willed away the headache raging away. She picked up the device again and continued writing her report.

The room was filled with the sound of the keys being pressed at. Within a few minutes, Claire finished up the report and clicked on Print.

Across the room, the printer whirled to life and started printing the multiple pages she had just typed up.

Claire pulled herself up from the floor carefully. She pushed her weight on her left leg as she started to make her way towards her desk. The bruise she had acquired on her calf from the gym was still aching, despite her getting it eleven hours prior.

Her bulky laptop was set on the large glass desk. Tiredly, she snatched a board marker from one of her many pencil holders. Her words drew across the desk, large and clear.

_Hand in report second thing tomorrow x_

Running her hands through her horrendously puffed up hair, she grimaced. The dust and grim seemed to be embedded in between the strands of her hair. But what could she do? After all, the day had been quite a mess so she’d just have to power through today so she could do it all again tomorrow.

Making sure she had nothing other to do or note, Claire picked up her side bag and her coat. The dust stains on the usual dark coat made Claire groan out in frustration.

_Why didn’t I see that before, _she whined to herself.

“Fucking motorbikes,” she grumbled as she slipped her arms in the dirty item of clothing. Checking herself out in the mirror beside the door, she mentally laughed at herself.

She looked like she had crawled out a wreck with her bushy hair, dirty cloak, and white streaks all over the brown printed pants she wore.

Claire shut off all the lights and made her way towards the end of the hall. The rooms she passed had all already been emptied, cluing her in on the fact she was all alone in the area. Claire gripped the handle of her bag and walked faster. Her heels made clicking sounds as she power-walked out of the place she was in.

Maneuvering around the maze of halls, Claire finally got towards the door to the parking lot outside.

“Goodnight Dr. Murphy,” a guard tipped his hat at her.

“Goodnight Steven,” Claire smiled faintly, slowing down for the guard to check her bag for any papers she shouldn’t have.

But as always, Claire was clean and she was given the green light to leave the building.

“Say hi to the children from me,” she waved.

“Will do,” Steven called out to the near-empty lot.

Claire fished out the keys from her pocket and clicked open her car. She slipped into her driving seat and bent over the gears to place her belongings on the passenger seat. Her hands slipped around the seat belt which she buckled in.

Turning the key in the engine, Claire pulled out of the lot.

The stars were barely visible due to the storm clouds that shrouded them. Goosebumps ran across Claire’s exposed arms making her crank up the heaters. Although it was the smack middle of summer, the long drive between her work and her apartment was filled with chilly winds.

She placed an elbow at the door, resting her head on her stable (or more stable than before) hand. Two fingers lightly pressed against her head while her ring finger, as well as her pinky, curled up right beneath her eye. The cool window helped get her grounded in the sense it would keep her from falling asleep at the spot.

The car continued its journey for about ten more minutes before the silence was broken by Claire’s sharp breathe. Her arm slowly rose from its position next to the window, her mouth let out a yawn and she rolled her shoulder a couple of times to get feeling back in her limb.

Her bleary eyes peered at the glowing red numbers.

“Another take-out dinner,” she mumbled to herself.

_But what kind of food_, she wondered to herself. _Thai food was last week, Chinese isn’t even possible if I want to come to work tomorrow and Indian doesn’t deliver so late. _

The only downside to her job, she believed, was the fact it was so time-consuming. She had once not minded it when she saw the number of zeros on her first check. But as she grew older, she realized her contract was more constricting than she would have ever thought. Weeks blended into months which bleed into years. She was so caught up in trying to not drown in her work that she ended up missing the world moving on.

It took her a lot of time to realize it. Though, when she noticed everything was a bit too much for her to handle, she still made the same mistake when it was time to sign onto a new project; which meant another contract. The digits befuddled and tricked her into signing her soul away.

So the rare days she had off, she’d cook. Like she had planned to do today. But like almost every day, she got held back doing double tests and finishing up reports. So she got well accustomed to the takeaway restaurants near her apartment.

_That Lebanese restaurant would be open by the time I reach home_, she snapped her fingers. Glee ran through her blood, making her smile and sit up a little more attentive. _I’ve been craving some Hummus and Shawarma since Mary bought some over last time_.

Her foot pressed against the accelerator with a little more power. She had a date with the delicious wrapped ambrosia.

* * *

“Is it possible to increase the scale we’re working at,” the General twisted his head to stare down at her.

“What sort of scale will we be looking at then?”

He straightened his already straight posture, one hand unfastened his cuffs. Taking his time, he rolled up both of his sleeves until three forth of his arms were exposed. The distance between Claire and him became quite shorter as he took deliberate strides towards her.

A cold dread crept up onto Claire. She tried to shift her eyes, yet the General’s dull brown eyes seemed to have her fixate her eyes onto his. It was as though she was afraid she’d miss a change in his demeanor. Her heart pounded roughly against her ribcage as her pulse pressed outward, trying to get away from this situation as quickly as it could.

She forced her shaking leg deep into her heels. Showing any sign of weakness never ended great for her. But she could start to regret asking for clarification.

“The universe has multiple opportunities in helping save mankind. The only issue is that NASA isn’t as far as it could be with space travel,” his warm breath brushed across her face. “Let’s eliminate the need for NASA’s involvement in this issue.”

Claire's mouth dried and she slowly let out a nod.

_Space travel without space equipment from NASA was illegal… wasn’t it?_

The General raked his eyes over her face one more time before taking a step back.

Thinking it was a dismissal, Claire took a step back as well. Her eyes fell to the floor and she picked up her file.

“We’re not done here,” the General said mockingly, “We’ve got two more hours at this meeting. That means no one would disturb us at that time.”

Looking up from the ground, Claire saw him take a seat on one of the sofas in the room. His legs were man-spread across the sofa and he started undoing his shirt buttons. His simple wedding ring gleaned in the bright light as his fingers worked their way down his chest.

Claire’s eyes flickered from his body to the door and then back to him. The metallic door would only answer to the highest clearance code in the building. The only person who had it was in the room with her.

Dropping the file on the table, Claire stripped off the blazer she wore before stalking over to the General. Once she stood in between his knees, he grabbed at her waist and pulled her onto his lap. Her hands sprawled against his chest to keep herself from smacking into him. But he paid that no attention.

His lips harshly captured hers and his hands ran over her body, messing up the ironing on the clothes. He picked her up and placed her back onto the cold floor, not once pulling away from the kiss. Time seemed to blur as they both fell under the haze of pleasure.

* * *

Slumped over his chest, Claire let out an inaudible groan and sat up. She could see her flushed face in the reflection of the pristine floor. <strike>Sam</strike> The General also sat up, resting his weight on his hands and he leaned back. Taking a quick glance at the clock, the time revealed to be at its end for both of them. Though Claire knew that the General could always keep her in the room much more than he had mentioned.

Saying nothing, Claire pulled herself up from her position on top of him. She bent down and grabbed her clothes thrown over the low coffee table before pulling them on.

“Eight months,” he said while going back to his desk.

Claire looked at the papers in her hand before nodding at him. He dipped back in his chair and pressed at the keypad that allowed him to open the door. With a low buzz, the door swung open and Claire walked out, feeling more pressurized than ever.

* * *

Claire massaged her cramped fingers. The pen lay next to the book in which she was scribbling, its ink run out.

She picked up the coffee mug at the edge of the table and took another sip of the drink that had gone cold. Her nose scrunched up at the taste but she pushed forward.

Taking a good look over the blueprints and the calculations, Claire went over the matrix mentally one more time.

She picked up the booklet she had been given to go over and lifted it up to eye level so she could read it. The blotchy ink stains on the paper made her sigh. The assistants she was given had terrible hand-writing. Placing her mug down, she went over their thesis.

_‘Conformal gravity may require a more sophisticated approach to cosmology.’_

Pausing over the sentence, Claire bit her tongue. She tilted her head to the side and after a few moments of contemplating the budding idea, she lifted her eyebrows up.

Claire placed the paper down and pressed on the buzzer. The buzz cut off.

“How may we help you?”

Picking up the 231 paged booklet, she peered at the title page, “Can you please ask Ms. Grayson to meet me in my office in forty minutes?”

Putting the booklet down, she stood up and went around her table.

“Certainly Dr. Murphy,” the responder hummed. “Code?”

“10-C blue.”

“Alright, thank you for calling Dr. Murphy.”

Claire leaned over and ended the connection. She picked up her mug only to down the remaining coffee. Wiping some coffee that dripped from the corner of her mouth, Claire pulled out the numerous whiteboards stored in the built-in-wall closet.

The rollers on the boards let out little squeaks due to being used after so long. Once all eight of the boards were lined up by the glass walls, opposite to sofas she had, she pulled the board makers out of her cup holder. 

Placing one open marker over her ear, she went through the booklet again. She nitpicked at the calculations and wrote them on the board. Slowly but surely, the boards were getting filled with calculations and side notes.

_If this actually works, we’ll be ahead of schedule. Which means I can take a couple of days off!_

Determined to actually check if she was going to be able to take some time off this project (and away from the General), Claire put all of her focus on going over the new path.

She nibbled at the dry end of the marker, her head tilted downwards as she muttered to herself.

“If we propose a second elemental version, then the problem that pops up is close to the one considered by Piran and Sorkin. But, considering how we have new data that discards their view of a periodically-identified fifth dimension. Then we can tap into it using the SK-Levanter project, we might possibly be able to open a dominant cellular break.”

Her voice volume went lower and lower until she no longer spoke out loud. Pacing in front of the last board, she chewed more harshly.

Sending a quick glance at the clock opposite to her, she noted that Grayson was running late. Claire sighed and strode over the desk. She reached over the phone set placed on the table and picked it up. She bounced her foot impatiently after dropping the markers in their cup. Once she was patched through, she requested Grayson’s presence once more.

“Sorry Dr. Murphy, Ms. Grayson was called up to a meeting and is busy with the General.”

A chill went through her body, “Ms. Grayson is extremely crucial to some matrixes I need to go over.”

“But the General insisted I leave him alone for the meeting,” the responder apologized. “I could, however, direct Ms. Grayson towards you as soon as the meeting is over. If you’d like?”

“If she isn’t here in five minutes, I’ll call up the Director in an instant to tell her you discarded my orders!”

“Ma’am please, I’m just doing what the General told me,” she nervously pleaded.

“I need Ms. Grayson now!”

“But The General’s authority overrides yours.”

“Not when it comes to needing the members on this project,” Claire growled out. “Two minutes or my next call goes to the Director.”

The responder stammered out a reply but Claire ended the link. As soon as the line went dead, Claire sagged forward. Her hands shot in front of her, stabilizing her body against the table.

Disgust and horror-filled her making her feel nauseous. She fought back the urge to empty her stomach with much difficulty. She breathed in deeply and concentrated on counting numbers rhythmically. But her mind seemed far away and she couldn’t seem to comprehend time.

A knock pulled her out of the sickening state she found herself in. Her body trembled as she straightened up and called out to come in.

The towering person Claire was waiting for walked through the door. With a mental thank you, Claire indicated to the sofa for Fiona to sit on.

Fiona timidly made herself to the seat.

“Water?”

Fiona practically jumped out of her skin and nodded shakily. Claire picked up another water bottle for her guest from the side mini-refrigerator. She carefully strolled over to the seating area and took her seat opposite from her guest. Placing the unopened water bottle on the coffee table between them, she gently held her own bottle.

Claire made sure she didn’t seem to mirror any of the body languages. It was something the General always did. Normally, it would calm the other person down but anyone who met the General knew otherwise; they just got tenser.

She looked away when she noticed Fiona seemed to shift in agitation.

Fiona picked up her water bottle and took a couple of sips. The silence was tense but Claire tried to keep herself from seeming extremely non-threateningly open. Another technique of his truly.

“Thank you,” Fiona softly murmured. Claire looked away from the carpet and onto Fiona. Her gaze flickered down to the coffee table after a couple of seconds.

“I’ll make sure he doesn’t try anything again,” Claire solemnly swore. Her eyebrows pulled together.

Fiona shrugged and looked away. Her leg started to bounce. After a few moments, she looked back to Claire and let out a scared huff, “But that would mean he’d do it to you.”

Claire licked her lips and smiled politely.

“I’ll make sure he won’t target any young member.”

Fiona let out a shaky breath and opened her mouth as if to warn Claire not to commit to what she had just stated. But her eyes searched Claire’s. The old self-hatred seeping through her eyes tipped Fiona off whose face just dropped.

“You knew.”

Claire’s face withered and she shrugged. Claire licked her lips once more, not minding the terrible flinch before addressing Fiona.

“I kept him from going after the younger members in this facility after he started with me. I just didn’t realize how much time was being consumed lately.”

“Were you the first?”

“No,” Claire admitted, the feeling of heartache for her former co-workers and bosses overwhelming her, “But I’ll do my best to be the last.”

Fiona bit at her inner cheek and gave a single nod. She shifted her gaze from Claire and onto her lap.

“Did-.”

Claire understood the chocked up question Fiona was trying to get out, “No. It’s – complicated.”

“But you have.”

Claire huffed out and popped around the bottle cap. She avoided her gaze with Fiona as she took a gulp of water.

“I didn’t call you here for an interrogation about my bad choices in life.”

Fiona’s furrowed eyebrows were exposed from the partitioned bangs.

“Did I do something wrong? Or was it something about my duties,” Fiona carefully folded her hands on her lap.

Claire lowered her elevated shoulders and took a deep breath.

_You can do it. _

“Actually, it was your thesis.”

“Did it not have enough explanation,” Fiona trailed off confused.

Claire’s tense smile loosened up.

_Fiona is adorable._

“Does this seem familiar,” she waved at the boards that were scribbled with Fiona’s calculations and Claire’s diagrams.

Fiona’s eyes ran over the words. She got up from her place and walked closer to the boards. After she read the fifth board, her body froze.

“Is it – did we just?”

Claire nodded, “Your calculations were right. Just the scale of numbers was inaccurate. Not to mention, we didn’t need Plank’s constant in the third step.”

Fiona’s mouth dropped open.

“But how – I barely even sunk into the calculations part?”

“Your line,” Claire bought up the booklet so she could read it out loud. “It gave me the kick start idea for this angle which lead to the use of _some _of your calculations.”

Fiona blushed at the blatant eyebrow raise at the ‘some’.

“Congratulations Ms. Grayson, you just founded the first paper to ever help in Space-Time travel.”

Fiona laughed unbelievingly and shook her head.

“What does this mean?”

Claire gave a proud smile and she leaned forward

“You’re officially now the co-manager on this project,” she titled her head to the side. “Welcome aboard Ms. Grayson.”

The shocked look on Fiona’s face couldn’t be wiped away. Tears started to gather in the corner of her eyes as she directed the purist smile Claire had ever see towards her.

_I know I made some unruly choices in the past, but lord help me, I can’t handle losing anything else to Sam._

* * *

Claire plucked the helmet from the hands of the worker.

“Thank you,” she muttered as the man returned to his post.

Claire stood proud, the air around them whipped harshly as they waited for the helicopter to land. The loud sound of the blades was drowned out when she donned on the white hard hat.

“The generators are all in place,” Fiona came up behind Claire. “And the batteries are all powered up.”

Claire gave Fiona a side glance.

“Where’s your hard hat?”

“Oh, they couldn’t find one in white,” Fiona shrugged. “It’s alright.”

“Take mine,” Claire insisted. “I have enough experience with these people which means I can curb my desires for hitting my head with the wall. You don’t.”

Fiona giggled at the joke but shook her head.

“They’re getting me a grey one. It should be here with the hard hats for the Bosses.”

Giving another critical look over Fiona’s body, Claire nodded and shifted into her prior pose.

The helicopter blades finally came to a stop and the doors opened up. Stepping out of the ride, two military men stood back to back. They held them on the side as if to guard the next person against and against any threat.

The first visual of the Director was her stark white plumps than come to a stop on the sandy ground. She climbed out of the helicopter at a leisurely pace. Inch by inch, her white pantsuit came into view.

“This is it,” Fiona muttered. “Oh, fuck!”

“Breath,” Claire said from the corner of her mouth, making sure not to look so obvious when talking.

“What if she hates it?”

“She won’t.”

“Oh my god! I didn’t spray perfume! If she comes near me, she’ll smell me sweating like a **pig**.”

“Fiona,” Claire warned once Fiona’s voice became louder.

The Director got off and they both waited, holding their breaths as she strode over to them. Her red hair was tied up in a Dutch braid and it looked so soft and in place that Claire felt awkward about her own hair. Despite the fact she had been to the hairdresser to get her hair done and continue her Keratin Treatment Plan, her hair still managed to frizz up, looking like a stringy mess of rough wires.

“It’s showtime,” Fiona whispered to herself in a deep voice.

Claire scoffed fondly but straightened up as the Director pulled up in front of the duo.

“Dr. Murphy,” the gorgeous red-head greeted. “It’s been a while.”

“Ms. Canmore, a pleasure to see you. May I introduce Ms. Grayson?”

“Yes, your thesis that led to a paving discovery in this project,” she smiled warmly. “And may I constantly repeat myself, Claire? Do call me Donna.”

“As you wish.”

Donna grinned at Claire and started to walk towards the shelter where they would show off the new devices. Her voice carried over before she started to question Fiona.

Once both Fiona and Claire were hidden from Donna’s view, as they were walking behind her, Fiona shot a look at Claire and wiggled her eyebrows.

Claire just gave a faux-glare in return.

* * *

The seatbelt was tough to pull down.

“You sure you don’t want me to go with you?”

Claire looked at Fiona and released her hands from the belt she was wrestling with.

“Positive. You need to stay back and organize the blueprints. Get some sleep before we get back as well.”

“Alright,” Fiona thumbed up at Claire.

“Great,” Claire went back to struggling with her belt. She stared cross-eyed down as she snagged it forward, piece by piece.

“Hey, go treat yourself tonight. You did great,” Claire called out to the girl who was making her way out of the plane.

Fiona turned around and waved, “We can go get take out when you come back!”

Claire smiled and nodded, but she was too far and Fiona had already turned around.

Shoving the contraception into the metal buckle, Claire let out a sigh of relief and rested her head against the wall of the plane. The headache that had begun to snowball through the meeting seemed to attack the temple of her forehead.

Claire breathed in and out, taking in the sounds of the military personal carry about their guns and the supplies for the flight. The repetition of the noise lulled her to sleep.

A loud tearing noise shocked Claire awake. The transition from sleep to waking up was so jarring that when she opened her eyes, she couldn’t feel her grasp on reality.

“What was that,” she questioned groggily to the blonde sitting opposite of her.

He licked his lips and looked at the pilot pit, “Must have just been some turbulence.”

“Don’t worry Dr. Murphy, we’ve got it all covered. You should go back to sleep,” the female trooper said more convincingly. “This is just Sam’s first time in the air. Let’s not let his fears scare us off.”

Claire’s eyes flicked about the trio in front of her. The brunette who hadn’t said anything since the beginning just nodded along to the female.

Claire nodded hesitantly.

“Alri-.”

The words in her mouth trailed off when the red lights in the military plane flashed on.

“Mayday! **Mayday**! Everyone buckle up!”

Claire straightened up and looked at the pilot pit in nervous fear.

“What’s going on,” she shouted over the shrill alarms.

Sam stumbled over to the flying compartment.

“We flew straight into a Tornado in this storm!”

The flashing lights practically assaulted her senses and Claire fastened her eyes. Her hands slipped around the cross Fiona had gifted her weeks ago.

“-Murphy!”

“Calm down! We won’t let anything happen to you!”

The female seemed to have just jinxed them. Because right next to her, the wall of the aircraft seemed to let out a hoarse groan before it was yanked away by the power of the Tornado.

The wind roared, and the sand particles rushed into the plane, engulfing the space within it. Claire’s eyes shot wide open and she felt her food rise up to her throat. Her hands fumbled around the side of her face and she grabbed onto her glasses. The sand pecked at her haggard face, getting into her eyes and mouth.

The wrecked airplane pitched forward, suddenly being pulled down to gravity face first.

“Dr. Murphy! Your strap!”

Claire grabbed the seatbelt and tugged furiously at it. One, two, three tugs.

She let out a breathy ‘no’ and yanked it even harder.

“It’s n- It’s not opening,” she yelled back at the armed operator.

The lean male looked around and quite carefully made his way down the airplane that was nose-diving into the atmosphere.

Below her, she heard Sam yelling frantically at the pilots.

Claire wildly looked around for anything to help her comprehend what had happened and how it happened but the terrible panic in her brain seemed to overthrow every logic out. In the corner of her eye, she grasped something out the window.

“What th-!”

A big, heavy _something _collided with the pit of the plane, and she heard a sickening crunch. The violent impact made her head jerk and slam into the wall behind her. Above her, the brunette paused momentarily, attempting to get control over the situation once more.

A creaky groan froze her panicking and she stared upwards, at the prototype that strained against its bonds.

“It’ll be alright,” the male shouted over the wind, “It’s been doing that since the beginning.”

“That’s not good,” she shouted back.

“Doesn’t matter as long as we get you out and parachute out of here!”

He reached into his pocket, brandishing a bulky knife.

“I’m gonna cut the strap! Don’t move!”

Claire shakily nodded and pressed her body against the wall. Above her, the floor under the prototype let out another screeching groan before the ropes on it snapped open.

“Look out!”

The guy who was helping her had just enough time to look up before the prototype smacked into him, splattering Claire with blood. His knife dug itself against the side of her pants, barely missing her skin when he got slammed by the machine.

Her voice went out as she noticed the ground getting closer and closer.

_C’mon, c’mon. C’mon!_

Claire punched the metal buckle and the belt snapped open, smacking her left eye with a deep crack.

It took a moment before gravity pulled Claire’s sore body down and her hands scrambled at the belt. She wrapped her right wrist around it, to keep herself from falling into the pit on the plane.

Above her, another identical groan made her look up in unutterable horror. This time, she noticed the machine - the very one the biomechanics team had been working on - tumble down and smack against Claire; who just cried out in pain as she felt something in her bound wrist give away. It continued to glide down the plane and whack into the prototype she had helped design.

As soon as the two devices touched, a blazing blue light emitted from them. It was so intense, that as Claire used her good hand to screen her eyes, her desperate grip on the arid belt slipped and she found herself plummeting to her death.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Writing this story is quite hard because I'm going to touch some heavy things and there are so many details and important aspects of the story that just can't be gassed over.

**Author's Note:**

> It’s not hard, in this rough jungle. It was me who ran into it, I’m okay ~ MIROH, Stray Kids


End file.
